Umami Rice Cooker NS-YAC10/18
i love my Zojirushi's top of the line Induction Heating Pressure Rice Cooker (NP-HTC10). But i couldn't resist Zojirushi's new Umami rice cooker that was released earlier this year, which is a mid-line model that costs about half of the premium pressurized model. The main difference between this Umami model and the premium model would be the lack of induction heating technology and the pressurized system. However, after trying every setting on this rice cooker, the cooked rice is every bit as good as rice cooked in the premium model. I would definitely recommend people on tight budget to buy this model because it is almost $250 less expensive than the premium model. Th Umami model uses only 610 watts of power, as compared to the premium model that uses 1,230 watts of power, yet it produce similar quality rice as the premium model. The premium model uses considerably more energy to cook due to the induction heating technology.
Delicious rice that keeps for a very long time
Zojirushi sent me this cooker to review a couple of months ago and after cooking with it several times a week for two months, I can honestly say that I am extremely happy with the cooker's performance. Coming with loads of settings for quick cook, GABA brown, no rinse, porridge, mixed, slow cook, etc, what sets this cooker apart is the new Umami setting, which cooks the rice slower to give you a more savory pot of rice.
Cooking on the Umami setting will take longer, approximately 1 hour for 2 cups of rice. It does, however, taste better than if you use the Quick Cook function, which does well when you're in a hurry for dinner. The difference is in the aftertaste of the rice. When eaten plain, there is a distinctly sweeter taste in your mouth after chewing and it brings one dangerously close to just standing by the cooker eating gobs of plain, hot rice.
The downsides include a thick and unwieldy power cord that isn't retractable, a cover that doesn't easily snap...
Excellent Rice Cooker
I have been cooking rice in this for a couple of weeks now and have found it to be an excellent rice cooker. I was a bit skeptical at first in regards to the umami setting, but thought that it would be worth a try. I can now say that I am glad that I decided to wait for this rice cooker to come out. As Crystal Watanabe mentioned in her review--the umami setting does add a slightly sweet aftertaste to the rice as opposed to the regular white or quick cook setting--which lacks the 'umami' flavor. Also, the sweet rice setting does cook sweet rice very well without needing much pre-soaking.
I do agree with the previous reviewer--Crystal Watanabe--that the power cord is a bit unwieldy and the 'non-stick' rice paddle isn't quite non-stick; though that is a minor inconvenience. I didn't find the lid to be hard to snap shut--it closes very easily for me. Perhaps the lid in her's is defective.
Overall, I would definitely recommend this rice cooker. Also, for anyone...
Click to Editorial Reviews
No comments:
Post a Comment